Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortization will near 17 billion euros ($22 billion), Conti
said at Enel’s head office in Rome. The company forecast 16
billion euros in March and analysts estimated 16.6 billion
euros, according to the median of 26 forecasts compiled by
Bloomberg.

“The year looks terrific,” Conti, 62, said in an
interview yesterday. “We have strong cash flow, expanded
business and synergies extracted from Endesa which” will help
us end the year positively, he said.

Conti said Enel will meet a target to cut debt 6 billion
euros to 45 billion euros after completing the initial public
offering of Enel Green Power, its renewable energy unit, and
selling Spanish gas distribution assets and a stake in a
Bulgarian coal-fired plant. The strength of cash flow means no
more disposals are planned for 2011, he said.

Conti said he aims to make “at least” 3 billion euros
from the sale of Green Power shares, likely to take place in the
second half of October. “We won’t need further disposals beyond
what has already been announced to maintain our solidity.”

Enel’s revenue has been boosted by the strength of energy
prices in Italy and increased sales from Endesa plants in Latin
America and Spain. The company bought Spain’s second-largest
utility in 2007.

Earnings Ratio

The shares fell 7 cents, or 1.8 percent, to 3.87 euros at
the close of Milan trading. Enel has dropped 4.4 percent this
year, outperforming an 11.5 percent decline in Europe’s STOXX
600 Utilities Index. Enel trades at a price-earnings ratio of
8.40, below the 8.90 for the index.

“Earnings visibility is not reflected in the stock
multiple,” Morgan Stanley, which rates the stock
“overweight,” said in a note last week. “Italian price
declines have not materialized and Enel has sold forward 2011
and 2012 production at 70 euros to 75 euros a megawatt-hour.”

Strong cash flow will support debt reduction, it said.

Power prices in Italy for delivery next year are 68.05
euros a megawatt-hour, according to broker data compiled by
Bloomberg. That’s 37 percent higher than in Germany, Europe’s
largest power market.